Master-Slave Control for Construction Robot Teleoperation – Application of a Velocity Control with a Force Feedback Model –

Abstract

Remote-control robotics using bilateral control is useful in restoring damaged areas and in extreme environments such as space, the seabed, and deep underground. This study deals with a master-slave system for a tele-operated construction robot. The system consists of an excavator, the construction robot, and two joysticks for operating the robot from a remote place. A fork glove on the front of the excavator acts as a hand for grasping objects. The master and slave correspond, to the joysticks and the fork glove controlled by the operator. In remote control, the operator must feel force from feedback force from the fork glove realistically. We propose a force feedback model based on velocity control of a cylinder to determine external force acting on the fork glove. Specifically, the operator manipulates a joystick to control piston velocity. Based on a bilateral force feedback model with velocity control results for one degree-of-freedom experiments demonstrate that our proposal has good stability and transparency in grasping both flexible and rigid objects.